Virtual IT and On-Going Service

The most successful small business computer consultants work in the “virtual IT” industry. When you offer virtual IT services to your clients, you get steady business that benefits both you and your customers.

The Definition of Virtual IT

When you work in virtual IT, you essentially become your clients’ outsourced IT department. You’re not selling customers and clients products – PCs, routers, cabling, etc. – rather sophisticated technology-based solutions to major business problems. You become a “virtual CIO.”

Virtual IT gives you the flexibility of providing a total technical services program that gives small businesses exactly what they need without having to pay someone to do it full time.

Providing Services to Your Clients

In order to be successful at delivering virtual IT services, you need to know what typical solutions look like. Ask yourself a couple important questions:

“What are the traditional types of services I can sell to my current and future clients?”

“What other opportunities are out there for me?”

Virtual IT and Relationships

You need to keep adding value to relationships with your current customers and clients and also the future ones. You can’t just sell an initial project such as a network installation, etc. You have to provide in-going support and services to truly stand behind the work you do.

Don’t wait for customers to call you. Instead, offer virtual IT services on a regular basis and help clients avoid serious emergencies that will stall business and create stress for you!

Added By: Computer Consulting 101 Professional Kit

IT Marketing and Attracting Your First Clients

When you have some clients on your roster, IT marketing becomes an easy task. But how do you get your first clients for your IT consulting business?

A Revisitation of the Steps to Opening Your Computer Consulting Business

1. Pick a startup date for your business.

2. Print business cards.

3. Tell everyone you know that you are opening a business.

4. Get some reference accounts.

5. Obtain referrals.


IT Marketing: Volunteer to Get Some Initial Clients

You can do a volunteer job that has a definite end point for an organization in your area in which you believe in order to get some initial clients. When you are talking to organizations, offer your services confidently:

“I’m going to do a great job helping you upgrade your PC or Web site. I would love it if in return at the end of the half day or day, you could write me a letter of reference and take some phone calls every once in a while from prospects to help me with a verbal reference. If you could also introduce me to three people active in your organization that are qualified and could benefit from my services, that would be wonderful.”

A director or office manager from an organization will know which of their board members regularly complains about computer programs. Volunteering can get you both testimonials and references.

Added By: Joshua Feinberg

IT Sales and Relationships

If you want to create real relationships, you need to establish them with the IT sales process. Your ability to sell your IT services is not about the size of your customer list or revenue; it’s about long-term relationships you build with customers and clients as part of the IT sales process.

You need to keep in mind that the lifetime value of your clients could be in the six-figure range, so you need to really invest in relationships with them.

Manage Customer Expectations

If you are in charge of IT sales at the start of your business, you won’t have to worry that your salesperson will change regularly, causing you to start over again each time you meet with a prospect or customer. With IT sales, the amount of effort required is often underestimated by consultants. If you are not mindful and don’t manage expectations from the beginning, building a personal relationship with your prospects and customers, you will find yourself struggling later.

Train Your Own IT Sales Staff

Most consultants get really involved in generating leads and closing sales in the beginning stages of their businesses. When you establish a routine and have five or ten really good clients that are giving you $5,000 to $15,000 per month in IT services, you may want to think about having someone help you with IT sales. Don’t delegate it until you are sure you have steady, solid clients that will sustain your business.

Added By: Computer Consulting Kit

IT Consulting: Use Proving Ground Projects

If you want to see whether or not you will get along with prospective IT consulting clients you need to test them out with proving ground projects – essential steps on the road to long-term agreements with clients.

What Are Proving Ground Projects?

Proving ground projects are your initial IT consulting projects with new customers that are not yet steady clients. They are your chance to prove you know your stuff, are dependable and easy-to-get-along with and offer value-filled services.

Proving ground projects in IT consulting are also a chance for customers to prove that they have reasonable expectations, are compatible and that the customer wants to pay for professional IT services at top rates.

Be Observant

If everything goes well during the proving ground project phase of IT consulting relationships, you are on the right track to having a new steady client. But you need to be really observant during this phase to make sure you are not dealing with a nightmare client. Often an IT consulting professional will be so excited at the idea of getting a new customer that he/she will not see obvious warning signs with prospects, including the following harbingers:

1. Prospects change their minds constantly;

2. They are late for meetings;

3. They verbally abuse employees;

4. They don’t believe the rules of your business or of IT consulting in general apply to them.

The Main Idea about IT Consulting and Proving Ground Projects

You can’t rush into relationships without deciding whether or not the prospects are a good fit by engaging in well-planned proving ground projects.

Added By: Computer Consulting Kit